Survive
by Falar
Summary: Corpral Stevens has crashed and can only remember certain things. Some things are unclear, others are crystal clear. He knows where to go, but can he make there alive?
1. What happened?

**_Authors note:_** _This is the first story I've done here, it's not much right now but if I get Reviews and people like it, I'l try to extend my work beyond the planned three or five chapters. Please if I have miss spelled any thing or have gamatically messed up, let me know so I can learn from my mistakes. Thanks in advance!_

The room was dark, the floors and walls stone cold. The floor was covered in a wet, sticky fuid. With no like it was hard to tell. Even the door seemed like stone. No light came from the cracks that were there. The air was cold and dry with the putrid stench of death. A beam of light at the center of the room seemed to burst into existance as a heavy wooden 'trap' door was pulled open at the ceiling. Something fell through the hole in the ceiling. It appeared to be a human body. The body hit the floor with a dull thud. The limbs splayed about in such a way it was obvious that the body was just that. A body. The thud seemed to draw attention as there was shuffling in the darkness. A gaunt looking man shuffled from the darkness and into the light, toward the body. The man looked up, revealing to it's unseen watchers it's dark, bloodied and disfigured. The dull watery eyes, the unnaturally pale skin and the way his mouth limply hung open, showing extra, crooked teeth. The unseen watchers seemed to have seen enough and let the heavy wooden 'trap' door close, blocking out the light, engulfing the man in darkness.

** Three days passage of Time.**

Light burst into existance as the rough wooden 'trap' door was pulled open once more. The floor where the body had fallen was now bare, save for a new layer of dried blood. A new body fell through the opening, the limbs splayed about like a rag doll carelssly dropped by a little child. Shuffling soon sounded after the thud. Moments later the man from before shuffled from the darkness, followed by a second man, it was the body from before, now standing on weakened limbs with pale skin that had once been tanned. The two men looked up, the second man's face was covered in dried blood with chunks of his flesh missing. The door closed, leaving the two men in darkness.

** Seven Months Passage of Time.**

"Hey. Hey you! Wake up!" Eyes fluttering open, pain flooding his mind and personal being. It took him a moment to focuse. His mind was numb with pain. He shook his head and regretted it instantly. His head burst into a new wave of pain. "Aah! My head..." Memory was slow, but he began to remember the essensials. He was Corpral Stevens, Eclipse squad, third platoon. He was on his way to meat Captain...Captain..._Captain who?_ His memory seemed to crash, another wave of pain waved over him. "You alright sir? You don't look so well?" That voice seemed conserned and...Feminin? His eyes finaly focusd. He looked for the source of the voice. Just to his left was a woman that had dirty blonde hair and a slightly small nose. _Private First Class Franklin_. "Ugh, yeah, I'm fine." Franklin sighed and smiled wearily. Something was odd about her...Out of place. It took Stevens a nearly a whole minute to find out what. Her left arm was limp and completley covered in blood. Her fave was smeared with it.

Quickly sitting up, Stevens looked her over. Her left arm wasn't just limp, it was have torn off. She wasn't at his side by her choise at all. A peice of shrapnel had lodged into her check and abdomen, holding her in place. _We crashed!_ Stevens along with the men and women of Eclipse squad had been on their way..._Somewhere_. They were in a..._Pelican?_ Something went wrong, the Pilot lost control or something. They were just above a jungle and had quickly lost altitude. "Status?" The word slid out of his mouth like oil on metal. "Looks like we're all that's left sir. I'm a bit stuck right now." Stevens grimaced at how casual she spoke, the pain must be horrible. "Don't worry, I can't feel much if I don't move..." Her words were filled with pain and were forced, she wasin more pain than she was letting on. Standing up, Stevens took stock of himself. Other than a bump that was causing the pain in his head, he was fine. "I'l be right back" Stevens walked towards the exit of the troop area. Stopping just at the edge of the metal floor. The Pelican was at least ten meters from the ground, held above the jungle floor but the trees themselves.

The Pelican shifted, nearly sending Stevens to the ground below. "Whoa!" Stevens backed away from the edge. Franklin let out a moan of pain before passing out. He quickly went to Franklin, checking her pulse. She was alive, but her pulse was eratic. Her breathing was deep and ragged. Stevens had a M6G pistol holstered at his left hip. His BR55HB SR Battle Rifle was missing, as was any other weapon other than a M7/Caseless SubMachine Gun. He crouched, grabbed the SMG then rose to a stand. The Pelican shifted again, this time knocking Stevens over. A sense of free fall came over Stevens as the Pelican dropped from the thick tree braches that held it. A loud Boom acompanied by being slammed into the floor told Stevens, rather painfully, that the Pelican had hit the ground. Stevens rolled over onto his stomach and stood. Franklin lay on the ground, her chest and abdomen ripped out with the shrapnel. Her mouth open in a last scream of pain and torment, her eyes open, tears formed from the pain she must have felt. Tear streaks ran through the half dried blood on her face. She was gone. Stevens just stood there a moment before stepping up to her body and kneeling by her body. He took her tags and checked her body for anythign useful. He found several magazines for his M6C pistol and two for the SMG.

The other bodies inside the compartment held little more than a couple mags of ammo here and there. He had found his Battle RIfle, but it was broken in half. Stevens stepped off out of the Troops compartment of the Pelican. The area around him wasn othing but jungle and the ocational peice of pelican. The Pilots compartment was nearly gone. It was a smashed up and broken bit of machinery and blood that would never work again. The Digital display in his helmet still worked. After a moment he managed to get a satelite image up. From what the Imagry showd, it looked like he was only ten, maybe fifteen miles from the nearest city. The Coms in his helmet were down. Figures. _Why hadn't they sent a rescue team? _He checked his digital clock. It showed 3:14 pm tuesday. Last time he checked, it was going on 9 pm Monday evening. The Pelican had been carrying a WartHog with a mounted LRV. It was gone. There were tire tracks heading west, toward the city. _Three bodies were missing!_

They must have gone for help. His memory was still gone for the most part, only bits would show up to him, and only a few of them were clear. _Where am I any way?_ Having no clue, nor an answer. Stevens shrugged to himself and took the first steps of his trek west.


	2. Findings

The sun beat down from over head, making the jungle canopy glow a weak luminous green. The humid air made his shirt sticky with sweat from his back. He had trekked five miles so far and was nearing the sixth. The tracks Stevens was following were all over the place. The tracks were light, not too deep, meaning that the driver of the Warthog was going at nearly top speed.

Stopping a moment, Stevens took in his surroundings, nothing. Just trees and bushes. The animals didn't even make a noise. That was odd. The tacks went up a low hill then stopped in front of a large root. Takigns a deep breath, Stevens pushed himself up the hill to get a better view of what was beyond. The Warthog law only thirty yards from him, tipped against a tree. A few broken rocks and tree limbs, along with deep impacts in the ground told the entire story. Who ever was driving hadn't see nthe root or didn't care and ended up hitting the root wrong, flipping the 'hog and crashing into a tree. He jogged to the 'hog, looking for survivors. A single body lay near the 'hog.

_Medic. _Stevens hadn't even met the guy yet. The medic was a new guy, just shipped out to Ecplise squad. Stevens knelt by the body, his tags were missing. The medic was on his back, a M6G pistol gripped in his hand. Blood covered him and several wound. Stevens looked closely at the wounds but couldn't place what had caused them. It looked as if something had taken chunks right out of him with it's mouth. Stevens took the M6G pistol and checked it. Only seven of the original twelve rounds were still in the mag. He pocketed the M6G and took the single spare mag in the Medic's right hand. Searching the recked and medic's body only brought a gause roll, morphine, bandage, a canteen of water and a couple Frags. Not exactly happy with his findings but definately not upset, Stevens shrugged to himself followed the foot prints he found. There were eight sets at least. Two were the tracks of running men, empty casings and mags dropped to the ground. The others belonged to slow, wounded people. Colagulated blood covered the ground by their foot prints, some of the prints were blood.

Something moved behind him. Stevens spun around SMG at chest and finger ready to sqeeze the trigger. The Medic was sitting up and slowly rose to his feet. Stevens lowered the SMG and his guard as he gave a short laugh. "You scared the piss outa me man." Something was wrong with Medic. Turning, medic looked at Stevens with dull, watery eyes. His skin was oddly pale, paler than just moments ago. "What the hell?" Medic took a weak step toward Stevens, raising his arms, slowly opening and closing his nailed fingers. Opening his mouth, medic let out a moan that sent chills down Stevens back. His teeth were yellowed, crooked and seemed to be pointier than normal. Horror quickly filled Stevens as he took several steps back from the limping medic. "Y-your dead! Aren't you?" To answer him, the medic simply stumbled closer, let out another horrible moan and closed his fingers again. Stevens squeezed the trigger. The momentum of his bullets sent medic, no, that _thing_ to the ground. Stevens let go of the trigger, his eyes wide with horror and confusion. _The hell was that!?_

The thing twitched, then slowly began to raise from the ground. Stevens let out a scream, ran up to the thing and stomped on the things head three times. His first stomp landed squarely on the things mouth, breaking several teeth and splitting the lips, the second kick missed and hit the thinks upper chest. The thrid kick was wide and hit the thing's shoulder. By the sound and feel of it, Stevens disconnected it's shoulder. The thing simply moved to bite Stevens ankle and nearly succeeded. Stevens pointed his SMG at the thing and pulled the trigger, filling the thing's chest with bullets. Having more than enough of this, Stevens jumped back from the thing, tossed teh spent mag and loaded a fresh one. Stevens stumbled backwards before turning and running, following the foot steps west.


	3. Horror

Breathing was starting to get difficult, a small stitch was forming in his right side. Corporal Stevens didn't care. He had to reach the city, find his missing squad mates. Slowing to a stop, Stevens looked at the city just ahead of him. He was sure he could see fires and hear distant gun shots. Not wanting that thing back there to get him, he took off at a jog. Jumping over rocks and roots, dodging trees and boulders too large to jump over, Stevens made a bee line for the city.

The city looked abandoned, the streets filled with trash, vehicles left abandoned where they were. Bodies lay in the street, some with holes in their head or laching them completely. Blood was every where, too much in fact for the bodies there. Some buildings were damaged and rather dirty. The stench of death was prominant over the usually poluted smells of a busy city. The thought: _What's going on here?_ Went through his mind more than once.

Some thing move just inside a broken building. Having not expected the movement, Stevens jumped. He scolded himself before moving toward the building. Stepping over the rubble that once was the wall of the building. The interior was worse than the experior. furniture was strewn about, several bodies filled the room he was in. There was a figure in one of the corners. "Hey." Stevens quietly called into the silence. The figure didn't seem to hear him. Stevens stepped closer, careful not to disturb the bodies on the floor or any of the broken furniture. "You okay?" He reached out and touched the figures shoulder and instantly regretted it.

The figure turned, revealing a disfigured face. Blood covered it's cold, clammy skin. It's eyes were dull and watery, rimmed with an unhealthy yellow color. Colagulated blood slowly leaked from putrid wounds. Stevens let out a scream and jumped back, and squeezed the trigger of his SMG. The bullets ripped through the _thing_. It hit stumbled back into the wall. The SMG jammed. "Shit!?" Stevens fiddled with the gun and tripped on one of the bodies. The impact, though small, was enough to knock the wind out of his lungs. He rolled over onto his stomach and pushed himself up and ran forward. Another _thing _stumbled infront of him. He couldn't stop and had to tackle the _thing_. He hit the ground, the _thing_ not landing as far as he did. Standing up, air finally moving into his lungs, he took several deep breaths. He would have taken the time to rest if those things weren't suddenly every where. He ran and reached for his SMG but gripped air instead. "Huh?" He looked at his side. The SMG was missing, he must have dropped it some where.

He jumped over one of _them_ and kept on running. Hearing a car, Stevens stopped and looked to his right. A car, driven by a woman, was heading straight for him. "Wait, stop!" Stevens didn't have time to move as the car slammed into him. Pain enveloped his world as he flew into the air. He could see the car that had hit him. _It's stopping?_ Sure enough, the car turned and skidded to a halt. Stevens landed on his back and knew nothing but pain for several seconds and let out a scream before passing out.


End file.
